Hockeyettan
| Hockeyettan | |
| 2023–24 Hockeyettan season | |
| |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Founded | 1975 |
| No. of teams | 39 in 4 groups |
| Country(ies) |  Sweden
|
| Official website | www.hockeyettan.com |
- Not to be confused with Swedish Division I, which was the top-tier league in Sweden from 1944–1975.
Hockeyettan, formerly named Division 1 between 1975–2014, is the third-tier league of ice hockey in Sweden. From 1944 to 1975, Division I was the name of the highest league in the Swedish ice hockey system, but prior to the 1975–76 season, Division I was scrapped and replaced by the Elitserien (now known as the SHL), and Division 1 was created as the new second-tier league. Prior to the 1999–2000 season, Allsvenskan (now named HockeyAllsvenskan) was created as the new second-tier league, making Division 1 the third-tier league. The league was renamed "Hockeyettan" in April 2014.[1] Today, the league consists of 47 teams divided geographically into four groups (Hockeyettan North, East, West, and South). The teams play half a season in the four groups, after which the highest ranked teams in each group form two new groups (named Allettan), organized more broadly into Norra ("North") and Södra ("South"). In the meantime, the teams which failed to make it out of their groups from the first half-season continue playing with the remaining teams in their group.
On 19 September 2012, the clubs in the league at that time formed an interest group called Hockeyettan, which aims to promote the league in Sweden, and is also responsible for running the Hockeyettan.com website.[2][3][4] In April 2014, the league was renamed "Hockeyettan". The name is a Swedish play on words with the league's original name "Division 1"; "ettan" means "one" in English, referring to the number 1 in the original league name.[1]
Hockeyettan is organized by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association (SIHA).
Format
As of the 2022–23 season, the league consists of 39 teams divided into four groups of 12 geographically. The clubs meet each other twice, home and away, after which the top four teams from each group form two new groups of eight. Each of these Allettan groups then plays an additional home-and-away series. Meanwhile, the remaining eight teams in each starting group play each other again in a continuation series.[5]
Post-season
The winner of each Allettan group qualifies directly for the 2023 HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers. Teams 2–5 in the Allettan groups, along with teams 1–2 from the continuation groups, play a playoff to fill the remaining two spots in the HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers. Teams 7–8 from the continuation groups are forced to requalify for Hockeyettan against teams from Division 2. [5]
History
Division 1 was founded in 1944, replacing Svenska Serien as the top flight of Swedish ice hockey. From its foundation until the 1954–55 season, the league consisted of twelve teams, with group winners facing off in a best-of-three final, and with two teams from the bottom of each group being relegated. From the 1955–56 season, the best-of-three series was replaced with a double round-robin final round with the top two teams from each group. The league was expanded to two groups of eight for the 1956–57 season. The league would continue to have two groups of eight under a variety of different post-season formats until the 1974–75 season. With Elitserien, a new top flight of Swedish hockey to begin play the following year, this final Division 1 season was played in a single group of 16, with the top 10 teams going on to play in the new Elitserien, and the bottom six remaining in Division 1 in its new status as Sweden's second-tier league.
Division 1 was a much broader league as the second tier, consisting of 49 teams in its inaugural season, eventually being reduced to ca. 40, and then 32 during its final second-tier season in 1998–99. During this entire period, the league was divided into four geographical groups, and operated a system of promotion and relegation with Elitserien and Division 2. Starting in the 1982–83 season, the top teams from each group formed a new group in the spring called Allsvenskan. For the 1999–2000 season, Allsvenskan was spun off into a new second-tier league, resulting in Division 1 becoming the third tier of Swedish hockey.
Division 1's relegation to third-tier status resulted in a massive expansion in the number of teams. 78 teams participated in the 1999–2000 season, though this was reduced over the following seasons. Initially, the league was divided into four regions, all of which were further divided into two groups. By the 2004–05 season, Division 1 had been cut all the way down to 48 teams that were organized into four groups. The league expanded again to 54 teams the following season, and would be numbered in the fifties until 2014.
In 2014, the league was rebranded Hockeyettan, and trimmed down to 48 teams competing in the current format with four starting groups of twelve that are then reorganized into 6 groups of eight in the spring. For the first season under this format, the Hockey Association decided to have only 11 teams in Hockeyettan North, giving a total of 47 teams.
Participating teams
2015-16
- Main article: 2015–16 Hockeyettan season
2014–15
- Main article: 2014–15 Hockeyettan season
The 2014–15 season will feature 47 teams divided into four geographical groups: Norra ("North"), Östra ("East"), Västra ("West"), and Södra ("South"). At the conclusion of the four initial groups in December, the top teams from each group qualify for Allettan, which consists of Allettan Norra ("North") and Allettan ("Södra") with 8 teams each, depending on the teams' geographical locations. The remaining teams in the starting groups have to continue in their starting groups ("continuation groups") after Christmas. The Allettan winners go directly to the HockeyAllsvenskan qualifier. The teams ranked 2–5 in the Allettan groups, and the top two teams in the four continuation groups, play in a three-round playoff—consisting of PlayOff 1, 2, and 3—and battle for two spots in the HockeyAllsvenskan. Unlike previous seasons where group rankings affected whether a certain team started in PlayOff 1, 2 or 3, all playoff teams now start in PlayOff 1. The two teams that survive PlayOff 3 join the two Allettan winners and the two worst-ranked teams from HockeyAllsvenskan in the HockeyAllsvenskan qualifier, the double round-robin tournament where the teams battle for four spots in HockeyAllsvenskan for the following season. The remaining teams from the continuation groups have to play against challengers from Division 2 in the Hockeyettan qualifiers, the double round-robin tournaments where the best teams qualify for the following season of Hockeyettan.
2013–14
- Main article: 2013–14 Division 1 season (Swedish ice hockey)
The Swedish Ice Hockey Association released a schedule for the 2013–14 Division 1 season which merged Divisions 1A and 1B into a larger Division 1 Norra ("North"). That group consisted of 12 teams playing a double home-and-away series against each team in the group, for a total of 44 games per team. Unlike the traditional system used by the smaller groups which in January reorganized themselves into new groups based on their position in their group, the new Division 1 Norra continued playing into the spring, with relegation and playoff spots being decided directly from the new group. Reactions to this set-up were mixed, with Sollefteå HK for example suggesting that playing that many games would be strenuous for the clubs' finances, and that playing each opponent three times instead of four might have been more appropriate.[6][7] In total, the 2013–14 Division 1 season consisted of 53 teams.
Note that Botkyrka HC merged with IFK Tumba Hockey during the off-season.
2012–13
- Main article: 2012–13 Division 1 season (Swedish ice hockey)
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Derbytätt i nya hockeyettan" (in Swedish). Upsala Nya Tidning. 14 April 2014. http://www.unt.se/sport/derbytatt-i-nya-hockeyettan-3099338.aspx. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
- ↑ Hockeyettan. Om Hockeyettan. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ↑ Hockeysverige.se. Här är nya hockeyettan.com. 20 February 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ↑ Vita Hästen. Nu lanseras Hockeyettan.com. 20 February 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "SERIEBESTÄMMELSER och VERKSAMHETSPLAN Säsongen 2015/2016". Swedish Ice Hockey Association. http://www.swehockey.se/ImageVaultFiles/id_96753/cf_78/SB_2015-2016_150525.PDF.
- ↑ http://www.pitea-tidningen.se/sport/division-1-serierna-slas-ihop-6789018-default.aspx
- ↑ Allehanda. 44 omgångar i nya division 1. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
External links
| Hockeyettan seasons |
|---|
1975–76 - 1976–77 - 1977–78 - 1978–79 - 1979–80 - 1980–81 - 1981–82 - 1982–83 - 1983–84 - 1984–85 - 1985–86 - 1986–87 - 1987–88 - 1988–89 - 1989–90 - 1990–91 - 1991–92 - 1992–93 - 1993–94 - 1994–95 - 1995–96 - 1996–97 - 1997–98 - 1998–99 1999–2000 - 2000–01 - 2001–02 - 2002–03 - 2003–04 - 2004–05 - 2005–06 - 2006–07 - 2007–08 - 2008–09 - 2009–10 - 2010–11- 2011–12 - 2012–13 - 2013–14 - 2014–15 - 2015–16 - 2016–17 - 2017–18 - 2018–19 - 2019–20 - 2020–21 - 2021–22 - 2022–23 - 2023–24 |
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